Novels-in-Verse: Where to Begin

I didn’t set out to be a poet. When I sat down to write The Song of Us, the idea came to me as a verse novel instantly. I can’t really explain why; I hadn’t written poetry since high school, and never intended to do so. Although the form was very popular among my students, I hadn’t studied it formally because I never thought it was something I would be able to do. But for whatever reason, my gut instinct from page one of The Song of Us was that this was a story that could only be told in verse. 

That being said…here’s where I learned to write novels-in-verse…

From other brilliant writers

who came before me.

If you or your students are looking for novels-in-verse to learn from, here are 12 must-not-be-missed novels-in-verse that taught me more than I can ever explain about this genre.

• Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

• Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

• Iveliz Explains it all by Andrea Beatriz Arango

• Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes

• Every Body Looking by Candace Iloh

• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

• The Poet X and Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo 

• Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

• Me: Moth by Amber McBride

• Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi